Today we’d like to introduce you to Cedric Begley.
Hi Cedric, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Japan, one of seven kids. I was always an extroverted, yet sensitive kid who loved acting and singing. My half-Japanese mother was a dancer and singer while my Brazilian father was a musician and producer. My older brothers and I were raised to be performers ourselves, playing in a family band as kids.
Sometimes we would sing and dance at nursing homes to brighten up the old folk’s day and other times we’d play on a festival at an American military base. As inspiring as that all may seem, it was still quite the struggle for my parents and all seven of us because we were technically foreigners, constantly moving all over Japan. It was very clear to me that I would never fit in or be seen as anything more than a foreigner in the country I was born in, however, I still love Japan and will always think of it as home. Then in 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake (magnitude 9.0) and Tsunami hit. The aftermath of this natural disaster became a sudden push for my parents to move us to America, which we did, only a month later. Also, they separated soon thereafter. At this point I was 10 years old, going through a massive culture shock, identity crisis, and living as a child immigrant in a separated, lower-middle class family. And interestingly enough, the bullying was far worse as a child immigrant in America than growing up as a foreigner in Japan. I was perplexed by the chaos I was born into. Who do I grow up to be when there’s no one like me? This, excuse my terminology, put a fire under my ass. If I’m never going to fit in or ever be seen as who I actually am, if I’m too different because of my nationality, identity, or personality, I’m going to put all my energy into what I can accomplish and what I can express to the world. I realized I’m free because I don’t need to follow the societal limitations of identity, culture, and race. I am Cedric and what I do defines me. So I got a manager and agent I started auditioning at the age of thirteen. Now I’ve starred 5 major television shows and two movies. I learned how to play four instruments and sing at a professional level. Now I have two music projects that I’ve created on my own, that are finally ready to be shown to the world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile will always go up against intense struggle. Whether it be a mental, financial, or societal, these challenges make you great. The financial struggles are just part of life and something everyone needs to figure out for themselves. But mentally and socially, there has always been a conflict regarding who I am as a person because of my complicated, immigrant background. In order to play an American as an actor, I will say it was a struggle for me to understand the social aspects American culture, rhetoric, and perspective. Especially considering there is such a vast amount of diversity in Los Angeles. I didn’t fit in with any one group but that challenge, that tension, taught me so much about different people and gave me more tools for acting. It taught me different body language, accents and cultural aspects of personality. It also gave me a curious, open minded view on people because I wanted to learn about them, rather than comparing them to myself. A big obstacle that I’ve had in acting is my figure and look. Being told my smile is no good because my parents couldn’t afford braces when I was a kid. Or being a tall, heavy set guy with a baby face who is from an extremely diverse background but is “white passing”, limits the roles I can play heavily.
For example, in the current climate, I’m not really aloud to play anything but a white guy cause I’m not non-white looking enough to play anything else. But I’m not your usual Hollywood male lead either, a short, slim, pretty white boy that books the majority of the jobs. And I’m only saying this based on my personal experience of seeing who books the projects, time and time again. And I’m not trying to give a woe-is-me speech, for I am extremely fortunate with the opportunities I’ve been given. Of course a lot of these things every actor goes through, you’re either too big or too small, too good-looking or too ugly. These things are inevitable and it really means you need to create a character that only you can play so you’re not limited by these obstacles. A good example of me overcoming this is when I booked a role on NCIS, going up against all East Asian kids for a nerdy role. Basically, I was going up against a Hollywood stereotype. I’m not sure exactly why I booked it but after I was done preparing for the role, I had created a completely different person because I knew I didn’t fit this role at all. When I would go into character around my siblings they would laugh, freaked out. Anyway, I booked it and I guess without knowing they technically still got an Asian nerd. HA!
A big obstacle for music was trying to find people to play with and places to play. In school in order to be desirable as a musician you needed to fit a certain culture, look, or lifestyle as other musicians and their clicks/genres in order for you to be cool enough to play with. I liked all sorts of music and didn’t fit into any click so I didn’t play with many people. And it is a thing in the professional world as well, but it more so turns into: you can’t get anywhere without either being a great entrepreneur or being a part of the several nepotist groups in LA that run whatever style of music you’re creating. So I learned four instruments then wrote, recorded, and released music independently which has hundreds of thousands of views on Youtube so far, but I’m only just getting started. And I’ve been performing my music regularly, thanks to people who are actually fans of the music. People who want to support the music that I’ve worked so hard to create. The point being, everything started from the art, not from any other external factors.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
When it comes to acting, I’d say I specialize in character acting. I love to be a chameleon; to get out of myself and live in someone else’s skin. My power as an actor is in my crazy imagination, my diverse life experience, and never-ending passion and energy. I give each character my all and take it very seriously, but don’t take myself too seriously. I’ll go from playing a fun-loving nerd on NCIS with Mark Harmon to bullying Michael Douglas on the Golden Globe award-winning TV-show, The Kominsky Method, in which I’m probably most known for. My latest project and most substantial work to date is Bully High, a coming-of-age drama about a Muslim exchange student who gets bullied for wearing her hijab. In the film, I play the male lead and love interest to the star of the film, Aneesha Madhok, who plays the bullied student. As a child immigrant and someone who was bullied, myself, I related to this project a lot. The film is currently streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video.
When it comes to music, I specialize in writing songs that push the boundaries of music. I believe in artistic freedom and free expression. I play four instruments and sing but that’s not the gift I’ve been given. The gift is the childlike imagination paired with a very sensitive ear and mind for music. I don’t hear music in genre but in feeling. In emotion. In color. You can check out my progressive-metal project, Ceddy Braugs. EP, Systm Ovrload, available on all streaming services and music videos on YouTube. It is an extreme form of self-expression and is one side of me. And soon to be recorded and released, an alternative rock/pop project that will be the other side of the coin that is me, Cedric Begley.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Being a youngster, I feel the lessons I’ve learned haven’t been fully learnt yet. But I can say a few things that have got me farther than I ever thought I could go.
1. Never lie to yourself. You will only pull yourself deeper and deeper into weakness and misery.
2. Know yourself. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is the only way to live up to your full potential because in reality, life is unfair.
3. Never ignore inspiration, love, or fun when it comes your way. Take it while it’s there, it comes and goes like we live and die.
4. 備えあれば憂いなし。The closest translation would probably be, “With preparation, there is no sorrow.” When the phrase is used in a more profound way it really means: when you truly prepare and put all your work into something you need not be ashamed, stressed, or sad even if it doesn’t work out because you did everything you could. It means so much to me because if I try my best, there’s nothing else I need to worry about. I’ve done all I can.
5. The people you surround yourself with his who you become. This is one of the most beautiful, dangerous, fascinating things about being human. We affect each other so much. Choose your friends, co-creators, and partners very wisely. From a professional level of ethics and association to a personal level of morals and character, the choice is paramount.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cedricbegley/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CeddyBraugs
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/ceddybraugs/
